Movement guiding system for quantifying diagnosing and treating impaired movement performance

Abstract

The present invention provides a guide that can be used to quantify impaired movement performance of a limb, to diagnose whether passive, active, or reflexive impairments limit movement performance, to quantify the resistance to movement provided by the limb at the workspace boundary, and to provide a means for a user to practice improving movement performance of the limb.

What is claimed: 
     
       1. A method for quantifying the movement impairment of a limb of a user using constraint forces, the method comprising the steps of: (a) guiding the movement of a limb along a path;   (b) measuring the extent of movement of the limb along the path;   (c) measuring the constraint forces applied by the limb; and   (d) generating physical representations of the constraint forces applied as a function of the movement position of the limb along the path.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: treating the movement impairment of the limb by providing feedback to the user of the constraint forces applied as a function of the movement position of the limb.   
     
     
       3. A method for diagnosing the movement impairment of a limb of a user using constraint forces, the method comprising the steps of: (a) measuring the constraint forces applied by a limb along a path during a constant velocity voluntary movement of the limb at a specified velocity;   (b) measuring the constraint forces applied by the limb along the path during a slow, isovelocity imposed movement of the limb with the user attempting to relax all muscles of the limb, the slow imposed movement being at such a speed so as to avoid excitation of velocity-dependent reflexes in stretched muscles of the limb;   (c) measuring the constraint forces applied by the limb along the path during an isovelocity voluntary movement of the limb at the specified speed with the user attempting to relax all muscles of the limb; and   (d) comparing the constraint forces generated in steps (a)-(c).   
     
     
       4. A method for quantifying workspace deficits of a limb of a user, the method comprising the steps of: (a) guiding a limb along a path;   (b) measuring the extrema of movement of the limb along the path;   (c) varying the orientation of the path with respect to the user to allow for movement of the limb in different directions; and   (d) generating a physical representation of the extrema of movement of the limb as a function of the orientation of the path, thereby identifying any workspace deficits of the limb.   
     
     
       5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of: treating the workspace deficits by providing feedback to the user about the extrema of movement as a function of the orientation of the path.   
     
     
       6. A method for diagnosing workspace deficits of a limb of a user, the method comprising the steps of: (a) guiding a limb along a path;   (b) measuring the workspace boundary during passive imposed movements of the limb;   (c) measuring the workspace boundary during voluntary movement of the limb; and   (d) comparing the boundaries measured in steps (b) and (c) to determine whether passive properties of the limb limit the voluntary movement workspace of the limb.   
     
     
       7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of: measuring resistance to movement at the workspace boundary by moving the limb beyond the voluntary workspace boundary.   
     
     
       8. An apparatus for quantifying, diagnosing and treating movement impairment of a limb of a user using constraint forces comprising: means for guiding movement of a limb along a path;   means for measuring the extent of movement of the limb along the path;   means for measuring the constraint forces applied against the guiding means; and   means for generating physical representations of the constraint forces as a function of movement position of the limb.   
     
     
       9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the guiding means further comprises a linear guiding means. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the means for measuring the constraint forces further comprises a force sensor sensing at least one component of force and operatively coupled to the guiding means so that it measures the constraint forces applied to the guiding means by the limb. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising means for providing feedback to the user of the constraint forces as a function of movement position of the limb. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the feedback providing means further comprises means for displaying the physical representations of the constraint forces to the user so that the user can attempt to improve control over the constraint forces. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising means for applying a controlled force to the limb, resulting in movement of the limb along the guiding means.   
     
     
       14. An apparatus for quantifying, diagnosing, and treating workspace deficits of a limb of a user comprising: means for guiding the movement of a limb along a path;   means for measuring the extrema of movement of the limb along the path;   means for varying the orientation of the guiding means with respect to the user to allow for the movement of the limb in different directions; and   means for generating a physical representation of the extrema movement as a function of the guiding means orientation.   
     
     
       15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the guiding means further comprises a linear guiding means. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the measuring means further comprises a position sensor operatively connected to said guiding means for measuring the position of the limb along said guiding means. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising means for providing feedback to the user about the extrema of movement along the path. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising means for applying a controlled force to the limb, resulting in movement of the limb along the guiding means. 
     
     
       19. A movement guiding apparatus for quantifying, diagnosing, and treating impaired movement performance of a limb of a user, the apparatus comprising: means for coupling a limb of a user to the apparatus;   means for guiding the limb along a path;   means for varying the orientation of the guiding means with respect to the user to allow for the movement of the limb in different directions;   means for measuring the movement of the limb along the path, means for measuring constraint forces and torque generated by the limb;   control means for receiving the measured values in order to quantify, diagnose and treat the impaired movement performance of limbs;   means for generating a physical representation of constraint forces as a function of the movement of the limb; and   means for generating a physical representation of the extent of movement as a function of the guiding means orientation.   
     
     
       20. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the coupling means comprises: a cone handle which the user grasps; and   a forearm brace connected to the cone handle for accommodating the user's forearm, the forearm brace being provided with a forearm strap for attaching the user's forearm to the brace.   
     
     
       21. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 20 wherein the coupling means further comprises a rotary shaft coupling the forearm brace to a shaft holding means, thereby enabling the coupling means to rotate in a plane parallel to the plane of the guiding means.   
     
     
       22. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 21 wherein the shaft holding means is operatively connected to the guiding means. 
     
     
       23. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means for guiding the limb along a path comprises a linear guiding means. 
     
     
       24. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 23 wherein the linear guiding means further comprises: a spline nut which is coupled to the coupling means; and   a first splined shaft which is operatively coupled to the splined nut,   the coupling means being guided along the shaft due to the interaction between the spline nut and the splined shaft.   
     
     
       25. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 24 wherein the linear guiding means further comprises: a chain which extends along the length of the first splined shaft and is operatively coupled to the coupling means; and   a first sprocket provided at a distal end of the first splined shaft and operatively coupled to the chain, the coupling means being guided along the length of the first splined shaft by the cooperation of the coupling means with the splined shaft and the chain.   
     
     
       26. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 25 wherein the linear guiding means further comprises: a second splined shaft provided adjacent to the first splined shaft; and   a counterbalance operatively connected to the second splined shaft and the chain.   
     
     
       27. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 26 wherein the linear guiding means further comprises a member being connected to a proximal end of the first and second shafts; and   a second sprocket provided adjacent to the member, the second sprocket being operatively coupled to the chain.   
     
     
       28. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 further comprising a drive box operatively coupled to the guiding means via a drive shaft, the drive shaft extending through the drive box. 
     
     
       29. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 28 wherein the drive box houses: first braking means for holding the guiding means at different elevation angles, the first braking means comprises a portion of the means for varying the orientation of the guiding means;   second braking means for applying braking torque to the drive shaft; and   motor means for applying torque to the drive shaft.   
     
     
       30. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 29 further including a hollow shaft which extends about the drive shaft, is operatively connected to the first braking means, and comprises a portion of the means for varying the orientation of the guiding means. 
     
     
       31. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 30 wherein the drive box further houses: a first position sensor associated with the first braking means for measuring the rotation of the hollow shaft; and   a second position sensor associated with the second braking means for measuring the rotation of the drive shaft.   
     
     
       32. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 29 wherein each braking means comprises a magnetic particle brake. 
     
     
       33. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 29 wherein the motor means comprises a direct current torque motor. 
     
     
       34. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means for measuring constraint forces and torque further comprises a force sensing means operatively coupled to the coupling means whereby, when the coupling means is guided along a path, the force sensing means measures the force and torque generated by the user's limb against the coupling means. 
     
     
       35. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 34 wherein the force sensing means measures three orthogonal components of force and three orthogonal components of torque. 
     
     
       36. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for quantifying impaired movement of the limb. 
     
     
       37. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for quantifying workspace deficits of the limb. 
     
     
       38. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for diagnosing impaired movement of the limb. 
     
     
       39. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for diagnosing workspace deficits of the limb. 
     
     
       40. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for treating impaired movement of the limb. 
     
     
       41. The movement guiding apparatus of claim 19 wherein the control means further comprises means for treating workspace deficits of the limb.